Although he’s missing Christmas with his family, the opportunity to help people in another state after New Jersey received a great deal of out-of-state aid following Superstorm Sandy made it “feel good to do this,” said John Cepero, a senior distribution supervisor for PSE&G in northern New Jersey.

“If it wasn’t for the help we received from the whole country, it would have been much worse in New Jersey,” said Cepero, of North Haledon. “It’s very difficult to plan for a major event like that.”

The crews arrived in Maine late this afternoon and were being briefed on their mission before heading out during the night hours.

Cepero, who is supervising crews in the Bangor area, said, “Everything is covered with ice. Anything on the ground is coated with ice. Walking around is a challenge.

“All the wires are down,” he added, noting the crews will stay in Maine for four to five days with a mission to put wires back up or replace them if they are too damaged.

Troy Simpson, a chief lineman for PSE&G, said the crews are "trying to restore power as quickly as possible.

"It's pretty brutal, it's pretty cold," he said.

The New Jersey crews left relative warmth in their state with highs in the mid to upper 20s, thanks to Canadian high pressure, according to the National Weather Service. A weak cold front pushes through on Thursday with chance of a snow shower in the morning.

The PSE&G teams will work 16-hour days to repair damaged electric lines, replace poles and transformers, and "restore power to thousands of customers still in the dark," John Latka, vice president of electric operations, said in a statement.

The Maine utility reached out to PSE&G for assistance — called mutual aid — which allows for the sharing of resources such as labor and equipment during emergencies.

PSE&G spokeswoman Karen A. Johnson said its workers were arriving after sunset on Christmas Day in Bangor..

New Jersey electric providers reported very few outages on Christmas from the storm that hit north of its territory.

After making landfall in New Jersey, Sandy looped west behind Maine and mostly missed the heavily populated coast before blowing out to the Atlantic Ocean. Once spared, Bangor Hydro sent crews south to help.

Local utilities pay for repairs. Bangor Hydro Electric is expected to reimburse PSE&G for costs this week.